PM> The audit queue mechanism (backlog) was pretty messed up in older
kernels, and while we've fixed it in modern kernels, I believe that
not all of the changes have been backported to the older distribution
kernels. 

Do you know in which kernel version this mechanism was fixed? 
This information would help me decide which distro I should move to.

PM> If you are a RHEL customer you *may* have some luck pursuing
this via your RH/IBM support person

I am not.